Seven Story plots - The Quest

This is the third in the series: ‘Seven Story Plots’.
Submit one or two creative and inspirational illustrations for a story about how our heroine or hero and some companions set out to acquire an important object or to get to a location, facing many obstacles and temptations along the way.
Examples of Quest stories include:
The Pilgrim’s Progress,
King Solomon's Mines,
Watership Down,
The Lord of the Rings,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,
Indiana Jones,
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
(The whole series of seven is here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4256208#forum-post-60785368 )

Show full rules

Announced:

Tuesday, 3rd April, 2018 (GMT)

Submissions:

Tuesday, 10th April, 2018 –
Monday, 16th April, 2018
(GMT)

Voting:

Tuesday, 17th April, 2018 –
Monday, 23rd April, 2018
(GMT)

Processing rules:

No restrictions. If you don't do much Photoshop, that's fine, but please don't mark down those who do, as a principle.

Small, unobtrusive watermarks are allowed, and should not be penalised in voting. Please don’t add any other text.

Recommended image size is Facebook standard; 2048 pixels on the long side, but the challenge host (and voters) will tolerate other sizes.

Capture date rules:

No restrictions.

Additional rules:

You must be the author of the image you enter.

If you enter, please vote.

If you vote, please vote fairly.

The challenge host will decide whether the entry matches the brief and may disqualify any that seem not to.

Re-entering an image? It's allowed, but the host may disqualify it at their sole discretion if they think it's stale. Others may complain to the host about images they've seen before.

Be original, be creative. I may disqualify some of the weaker entries (to make space for more creative ones) if there are many on a similar theme.

Please give the image a title and a description.

Put a piece of your own soul into your entry; a simple record of someone else's art is unlikely to attract a high score.

Constructive comments welcomed - on any entry - at any time after the challenge has opened for submissions.

Your complaint (along with the complaints of others regarding this entry) will be
reviewed by the challenge owner. Depending upon the nature and applicability of the
complaint, the entry may be disqualified. In extreme circumstances the user who submitted
the entry may receive a ban from the challenge or series in question.

Entry comments

With a hat and beard like that, he must be a wizard! A wizard on a horse wading through water; why would he do that unless he were on a quest? A well assembled entry that wins the host’s choice. Congratulations on the win too!